Way of Champions Podcast

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we talk with hockey coach Damian DiGulian and volleyball coach Bryan McDermand in a discussion about how to return to sport. Not only do we dive into returning to play, but we also all about college recruiting, saving kids from getting burned out, and what youth sports could be as a result of the pandemic.

Damian DiGiulian returns to Saint Michael's for his ninth season as the men's ice hockey head coach in 2020-21. DiGiulian, who has also coached in the USA Hockey development system, is just the third head coach since the program was elevated to varsity status for the 1982-83 season. Click here for more information on Coach DiGiulian.

Bryan McDermand has been coaching volleyball for over 15 years. On top of being a former collegiate indoor player/Open-level beach player, Bryan coached junior college, NCAA Division III, and NCAA Division I. Also, Bryan has coached juniors club full time and juniors in Beach Volleyball for the last 7 years. Visit his website at https://www.progressionvolleyball.com/.

• Bryan talks about why he created Progression Volleyball
• Damian discusses his coaching journey
• What does practicing during a pandemic look like?
• How do we come back as better sports organizations?
• Getting seen versus getting better
• 5 Things athletes need to consider when looking for a scholarship
• Can we return to sport and also save kids from burnout?
• The recruiting process, good and bad
• How important is character to the recruiting process?
• Club sports and why they are so expensive
• Adapting practice and competitions during a pandemic

Help Support the Podcast!

Become a Podcast Champion! ...and get FREE access to ALL of our online courses.

If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including:

• Downloadable transcripts of the podcasts, so you don't have to crash your car trying to take notes!
• A monthly discussion with John, James, Jerry, and other special guests talking about the previous month's episodes and answering some of the FAQs we received that month
• A code to get free access to our online course called "Coaching Mastery," usually a $97 course, but yours for free for becoming a patron.
• Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences.

Thank you for all your support these past two years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions

Daniel Coyle is the New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code, The Culture Code, The Little Book of Talent, The Secret Race (co-authored with Tyler Hamilton), Hardball: A Season in Projects , and other books. Winner (with Hamilton) of the 2012 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Prize, he is a contributing editor for Outside Magazine, and works as a special advisor to the Cleveland Indians. Coyle lives in Cleveland, Ohio during the school year and in Homer, Alaska, during the summer with his wife Jen, and their four children.

In today's episode, a replay from 2018, Coyle discusses the three principles of the world's best team cultures: safety, vulnerability, and shared purpose. He shares stories ranging from the NBA to the Navy Seals, including these highlights:

Show Notes

• How a little girl and a tennis ball sparked The Culture Code
• NBA Coach Greg Popovich does two things: he tells you the truth and he loves you to death
• How one great team "Pounds the Rock"
• What is safety and why do great cultures need to have it?
• The four most important words a leader can say
• Culture is fully within our control
• The myth of cultural fit

Get in Touch with Dan Coyle

Twitter: @DanielCoyle

Website: http://danielcoyle.com

Buy the Books

The Culture Code: https://amzn.to/2JHWW6M

The Talent Code: https://amzn.to/2I5cF2H

Way of Champions Conference 2021

This weeks podcast is brought to you by the 2021 Way of Champions Leadership Conference, August 21-22, being held virtually this year. We have put together a lineup that is out of this world for our event, and just added Brad Stevens, recently retired Head Coach from the Boston Celtics! Other guest speakers include Steve Kerr of the Warriors, Tara VenDerveer of Stanford, Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz, multiple time NCAA Champion coaches Anson Dorrance, Cindy Timchal, and Jenny Levy, and mindfulness expert George Mumford. Click here to learn more or register before we sell out!

Welcome to our New Sponsor GoodSport!

GoodSportTM is a natural sports drink that delivers superior hydration backed by science with a delicious thirst-quenching taste. And what’s really cool about it, is that it’s made from milk.

It turns out, milk is packed with electrolytes and has been shown to hydrate better than traditional sports drinks and water. GoodSport ultrafilters milk to remove its protein and harness its electrolytes, carbs and vitamins to provide superior hydration in a clear and refreshing beverage. GoodSportTM has three times the electrolytes than traditional sports drinks with 33 percent less sugar. GoodSportTM is lactose free and provides a good source of calcium and an excellent source of B vitamins.

I really enjoy GoodSportTM but what gets me most excited is the brand’s commitment to fostering a positive sports culture aimed at getting and keeping more people in the game. GoodSportTM supports athletes with naturally powerful hydration and celebrates the natural good that comes from sports. GoodSportTM – Grab the Good. Check it out at goodsport.com.

This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sports Refund. Many of you probably buy trip insurance, every winter I buy ski pass insurance, to make sure that if I get injured I can get my money back on that expensive investment. Well, many of us spend thousands of dollars on our kids sports club fees, but what if they get hurt? In many cases you cannot get your money back, but now with Sports Refund you can. For just pennies on the dollar, you can make sure that if your child gets sick or injured and misses a month or more you can get your money back, or your club can get paid. It’s a great product, just go to www.sportsrefund.com/game and get your free quote, and if it sounds good you can either get your club to sign up, or you can purchase on your own.

Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our most popular online courses, a $300 value. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including:

• Downloadable transcripts of our best...

When we talk about being a champion, not too many people in professional sport can claim to understand what it takes to get to the top of the game like Wes Brown. Brown loved taekwondo and playing pickup games in the park as a kid, and didn't join his first soccer team until the age of 10. But from there he blossomed, joining Manchester United at age 12, turning pro at age 16, and eventually winning 2 Champions League titles (1999, 2008) 5 English Premier League titles, 2 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and making the PFA team of the year in 2000-2001. He eventually played over 300 EPL games for Manchester United and Sunderland before finishing his career with a stint with Blackburn and in India.

In our discussion today, Wes talks about the influence of role models in close proximity (we spoke about this with Rasmus Ankersen a few weeks back), as players such as Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Davis Beckham, Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand and Cristiano Ronaldo all influenced his journey as a player. We speak about playing with Ronaldo, and marking Lionel Messi. We touch on his boyhood sport experiences, as well as the massive impact legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson had on him and so many players. Finally, we talk about pressure and Simone Biles, and get Wes's take on the inner game and what it takes to perform in front of millions, even billions of people, on the world's biggest sporting stage.

Way of Champions Conference 2021

This weeks podcast is brought to you by the 2021 Way of Champions Leadership Conference, August 21-22, being held virtually this year. Registration closed August 1, but you can email John at Changing The Game Project in case we have a late opening. We have put together a lineup that is out of this world for our event, and just added Brad Stevens, recently retired Head Coach from the Boston Celtics! Other guest speakers include Steve Kerr of the Warriors, Tara VenDerveer of Stanford, Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz, multiple time NCAA Champion coaches Anson Dorrance, Cindy Timchal, and Jenny Levy, and mindfulness expert George Mumford. Click here to learn more or register before we sell out!

This episode is sponsored by GoodSport!

GoodSportTM is a natural sports drink that delivers superior hydration backed by science with a delicious thirst-quenching taste. And what’s really cool about it, is that it’s made from milk.

It turns out, milk is packed with electrolytes and has been shown to hydrate better than traditional sports drinks and water. GoodSport ultrafilters milk to remove its protein and harness its electrolytes, carbs and vitamins to provide superior hydration in a clear and refreshing beverage. GoodSportTM has three times the electrolytes than traditional sports drinks with 33 percent less sugar. GoodSportTM is lactose free and provides a good source of calcium and an excellent source of B vitamins.

I really enjoy GoodSportTM but what gets me most excited is the brand’s commitment to fostering a positive sports culture aimed at getting and keeping more people in the game. GoodSportTM supports athletes with naturally powerful hydration and celebrates the natural good that comes from sports. GoodSportTM – Grab the Good. Check it out at goodsport.com.

This week’s podcast is also brought to you by our friends at Sports Refund. Many of you probably buy trip insurance, every winter I buy ski pass insurance, to make sure that if I get injured I can get my money back on that expensive investment. Well, many of us spend thousands of dollars on our kids sports club fees, but what if they get hurt? In many cases you cannot get your money back, but now with Sports Refund you can. And it's not just for long term broken bones or torn ligaments. It is only a 14 day waiting period, so you even get a refund if you roll that ankle or pull a hammy! For just pennies on the dollar, you can make sure that if your child gets sick or injured and misses a month or more you can get your money back, or your club can get paid. It’s a great product, just go to www.sportsrefund.com/game and get your free quote, and if it sounds good you can either get your club to sign up, or you can purchase on your own.

Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our most popular online courses, a $300 value. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before release...

• Downloadable transcripts of the podcasts, so you don't have to crash your car trying to take notes!
• A monthly discussion with John, James, Jerry, and other special guests talking about the previous month's episodes and answering some of the FAQs we received that month
• A code to get free access to our online course called "Coaching Mastery," usually a $97 course, but yours for free for becoming a patron.
• Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences.

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Travis Thomas. Travis Thomas is a best-selling author, well-known speaker, and the creator of LiveYesAnd.com. He currently works with US Soccer teaching leadership and culture to some of the best soccer player sin the world. During our time together, we dive into Travis’ journey to creating LiveYesAnd.com, using improv to help athletes perform better, and what it is like working with US Soccer.

Thomas started “Live Yes, And!” to help individuals, teams, and companies discover their inner brilliance through a commitment to purpose, authenticity and collaboration. For more than two years, Thomas served as a leadership coach at IMG Academy where he worked with youth, collegiate and professional athletes from all over the world and all different sports. He used the games and exercises of improvisation, combined with personal development ideas, to teach mindset, teamwork, character and collaboration. For the last four years, Thomas has been traveling around the world to work with companies, schools and sports teams, and has presented to companies like AIG, Johnson & Johnson, and Citigroup and for sports teams including the Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees and Georgia Football.

The Way of Champions Podcast is brought to you by Sports Refund. When kids sign up to play youth sports there are always fees involved. And parents pay those fees so their child can be on the team, not the injury report. That’s why I love Sports Refund, and parents will too. Sports Refund is low-cost sports fee insurance – NOT health insurance, sports fee insurance. So if your child becomes injured or sick and can’t play, you get your fees reimbursed for that lost time, from one game to an entire season. It’s that simple. This product not only saves families wasted fees, it saves injured athletes the stress of feeling like they’re wasting their parents’ money. The fees come back until the player comes back. So they can focus on fully recovering and making a healthy return to the game. Sports Refund has options for individuals and organizations. Ask your club if they offer it, or visit SportsRefund.com/Game to learn more and sign up today. That’s SportsRefund.com/Game. Can’t Play? Don’t Pay. With Sports Refund.

• Travis talks about his journey to creating LiveYesAnd.com
• What is “Yes, And”?
• How using improv comedy can make athletes better teammates
• What was the best part about working at IMG in leadership development?
• Travis shares a story of an NFL quarterback using memories to change emotional state
• What it’s like working with US Soccer
• How does the character of a coach effect their ability to effectively coach?
• Check out Travis’s book "3 Words for Getting Unstuck"

• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram
• On Twitter

Become a Podcast Champion! ...and get FREE access to ALL of our online courses.

If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including:

• Downloadable transcripts of the podcasts, so you don't have to crash your car trying to take notes!
• A monthly discussion with John, James, Jerry, and other special guests talking about the previous month's episodes and answering some of the FAQs we received that month
• A code to get free access to our online course called "Coaching Mastery," usually a $97 course, but yours for free for becoming a patron.
• Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences.

Thank you for all your support these past two years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions